One Step at a Time
by EverlastingBoba
Summary: Despite crying it out after her rejected confession, Mariya Saijou still has not forgiven herself completely. She may have patched things up with Takeo but not necessarily Yamato herself. However, little does she know that she is about to be forced to confront her guilt so soon.


Gosh darn it, I recently started watching Ore Monogatari and everything is just so wonderful! One of the characters that I fell in love with was Mariya Saijou. She is a BEAUTIFUL sympathetic character who is honestly just a good person with good intentions.

I really hoped that we would get to see a lot more of her since she is such a cute splash of personality, but they were quickly dashed... **I NEED MORE OF HER IN MY LIFE.** While I'm wasting away, I can't help but wonder more about her relationships with the other characters. As such, I wanted to further delve and to imagine what could have happened. Thus, this was the beginning of my writings.

This one bit is about **her and Yamato**. I really like to imagine them as friends, and since the anime has never really showed them interacting after her confession, I still want them to be friends despite them liking the same guy. Dat "rivals becoming friends" cliche doe. I hope that none of these two characters are too OC **(if there is one thing that I cannot stand for, it is OCness)** and I hope I can do them justice. Don't own anything and please don't kill me! If this goes well, I may continue writing about her with others. I just love too much TT^TT

 **I AM TRASH.**

* * *

"Ah, Saijou-san!"

Recognizing the person's voice, Mariya Saijou froze. She has been doing her best to avoid this person for some time: ducking into alleys, walking faster, avoiding eye contact, turning in opposite directions but this time, she could not escape. She's cornered. Mustering her courage, she turned towards the voice shyly and offered a reluctant smile.

"Yamato-san, what a pleasant surprise!"

Rinko Yamato smiled and began to talk to her like old pleasant friends. She chatted about shopping for ingredients for her latest pastries, but Saijou could only manage nodding her head in acknowledgement. Needless to say, she felt awkward towards Yamato, especially after what happened.

Little time has passed since she had confessed to Takeo and had been rejected. Without a doubt, Takeo, being the pure and honest soul that he is, told everything to Yamato and since then, Saijou had been doing her best to stay clear of Yamato. She couldn't imagine her being completely fine with her feelings for her boyfriend. Any normal girl would despise her.

That is why, it amazed Saijoul how, despite everything that has happened, Yamato was still willing to treat her as a friend without any questions. She knew that she didn't deserve this sincerity. She knew that pining after someone else's boyfriend is wrong. So why isn't Yamato getting mad at her? Why isn't she holding a grudge against her?

The longer Yamato talked to her with such sincerity, the more Saijou felt at unease. Her guilt grew by the second as Yamato kept chattering about her cooking with a bright and innocent smile. Soon, she couldn't keep it in any longer. There could only be so much that the passionate girl could take before the guilt would overwhelm her. She felt a pop in her mind as she blurted out loud her inner conflict.

"I can't take this anymore! How can you be so forgiving?! How can you still treat me as a friend?! I'm the one who has these feelings for your boyfriend! You should hate me for this… Why…why can't you just hate me…?"

Her eyes started to water a little as she recalled the pain. Of course, she knew that she would be rejected when she confessed, but it did little to lessen the hurt. Although, Saijou did not have any regrets falling in love with Takeo, she was saddened by the consequences of her actions. Not only was she rejected, but she also lost her chance at a friendship with Yamato. It was a shame; she felt like they could have been friends if things didn't happen the way they did. Saijou covered her face with her hand, embarrassed, and tried her best to recompose herself.

"S…sorry…" she uttered, "I….I didn't mean to blurt out like that."

Yamato looked startled by her outburst, but soon came to her senses. Gently ushering her away from the stares of bystanders for a little bit of privacy, she ruffled through her bag and offered her a handkerchief.

Surprised, Saijou pondered, "Huh? What is this for?"

With a gentle laugh, Yamato smiled understandably.

"Your eyes are tearing a little."

Reflexively, Saijou touched her cheek and felt a tear stain. Huh, she didn't even notice that she began to cry. She gratefully took her handkerchief and began to wipe away the tears. Strategically, her head was bent low so she did not have to meet Yamato's kind gaze. Yamato gently patted her on the back for comfort, as she decided to subtly address the issue that has been lingering between the two girls.

"You know, ever since I met Takeo-kun, I knew that he was a cool person," Yamato started softly.

"It would only be natural for anyone to like him as a person. When we were dating, at times, I felt a little worried about our relationship. He would keep telling me that no other girl would fall for him, but when you came along, his reassurance didn't feel so reassuring."

Saijou's head shot up and she started to shake her head vigorously in disagreement. Her eyes gleamed with certainty as she declared her thoughts.

"Don't be ridiculous! You're such a good person! I could see how perfect you two are together, but I confessed anyway. I'm the one who tried to get closer to Takeo-kun! You trusted me and yet I took advantage of your kindness…!"

Yamato shook her head softly. "No, it's okay, Saijou-san. I know how much I mean to Takeo-kun and how much he means to me. I'm a lot more confident in my relationship with him now, thanks to you," soothed Yamato. "I can't blame you for anything; you've done nothing wrong. After all…"

Yamato gently took Saijou's hands and gave her hands a soft squeeze.

"You can't help how you feel, right?"

At that moment, Saijou felt her eyes tear up once again and immediately enveloped Yamato into a hug.

Acceptance.

As her tears fell down, a heavy burden was slowly being lifted off her chest. She was still healing, but she finally felt closer to being truly at peace. Once she managed to control her emotions, she faced towards Yamato. Holding the stained handkerchief in her hand, Saijou gave her a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry for dirtying your cute handkerchief. I'll be sure to wash it for you and return it to you properly, okay?"

Yamato, glad to cheer up the girl, giggled.

"It's no problem at all! That is really kind of you, Saijou-san. No matter what you say, you truly are a good person!"

Saijou chuckled at her remark.

"Hah, you're the one who's a good person!"

Together, they both laughed, relieved that this tension was past them.

With a sigh of relief, Saijou calmed herself down and looked at Yamato sincerely. "Really, Yamato, thank you, thank you for everything."

In response, Yamato grinned and offered her arm as a sign of friendship.

"Of course! What are friends for?"

* * *

 **I TRIED, OKAY?**

I actually wrote this awhile ago (last year) and happened to stumble upon it while clearing out my old laptop. _So please don't mind the probable grammar/writing mistakes since I likely missed some while doing a very fast proofread._ Thought to myself: might as well post it, since I don't exactly plan on expanding upon this until I end up being overwhelmed with dem feelz. In case anyone was curious, this was intended to be an extension of Saijou's interactions with the main-ish characters since I really did fall in love with this character and wanted to see her interact with other characters on the anime! This was my quotes brainstorm before I lost the will to write x]

Saijou & Takeo

"Thank you for believing in me."

Saijou & Suna (i hate how much i ship this but i really really do, **halp** )

"I'm sure that you get told this often, but you truly are a good friend."

Saijou & Yukika

"They sure are nice people, aren't they?"

Saijou & Ai

"I envy you"

 **Thank you for reading!**


End file.
